Table 2.
Pregnancy characteristics
| North n (%) | Centre n (%) | South n (%) | Total n (%) | P value | |
| Natural conception | 2204 (94.4) | 912 (93.2) | 1594 (94.7) | 4710 (94.2) | 0.2529 |
| Parity: primiparous | 1235 (53.0) | 594 (60.9) | 962 (55.6) | 2791 (55.4) | 0.0002* |
| No previous pregnancies (primigravida) | 1033 (44.3) | 477 (49.0) | 824 (47.8) | 2334 (46.4) | 0.0180* |
| n previous pregnancies (2697 women) | 0.0986 | ||||
| 1 | 708 (54.8) | 285 (58.0) | 467 (52.6) | 1460 (54.7) | |
| 2 | 389 (30.1) | 151 (30.8) | 274 (30.9) | 814 (30.5) | |
| >2 | 195 (15.1) | 55 (11.2) | 146 (16.5) | 396 (14.8) | |
| Prepregnancy BMI | <0.0001* | ||||
| Underweight | 208 (9.3) | 80 (8.6) | 94 (5.6) | 382 (7.9) | |
| Normal weight | 1.489 (66.5) | 653 (70.2) | 1.098 (65.4) | 3.240 (66.8) | |
| Overweight | 362 (16.2) | 145 (15.6) | 339 (20.2) | 846 (17.5) | |
| Obese | 179 (8.0) | 52 (5.6) | 149 (8.9) | 380 (7.8) | |
| Gestational weight gain | 0.3498 | ||||
| Inadequate | 804 (36.2) | 344 (37.1) | 609 (36.7) | 1.757 (36.6) | |
| Optimal | 876 (39.5) | 378 (40.8) | 628 (37.9) | 1.882 (39.2) | |
| Excessive | 538 (24.3) | 204 (22.0) | 422 (25.4) | 1.164 (24.2) | |
| Healthy pregnancy | 1992 (85.2) | 839 (85.9) | 1497 (86.5) | 4328 (85.8) | 0.4839 |
| Chronic disease in mother | 416 (17.8) | 193 (19.7) | 425 (24.5) | 1034 (20.5) | 0.0001* |
| Folic acid taken appropriately† | 910 (39.5) | 400 (41.0) | 496 (28.6) | 1806 (36.1) | <0.0001* |
| Vaccination in pregnancy | 1121 (49.1) | 278 (28.9) | 229 (13.4) | 1628 (32.8) | <0.0001* |
| Recommended vaccines | |||||
| DTaP | 1076 (46.0) | 267 (27.2) | 199 (11.5) | 1542 (30.5) | <0.0001* |
| Influenza | 239 (10.2) | 89 (9.1) | 73 (4.2) | 401 (7.9) | <0.0001* |
| Any smoke during pregnancy | 163 (7.0) | 64 (6.7) | 97 (5.7) | 324 (6.5) | 0.2238 |
| Occasionally | 58 (36.0) | 22 (34.4) | 36 (37.5) | 116 (36.1) | |
| Daily | 103 (64.0) | 42 (65.6) | 60 (62.5) | 205 (63.9) | |
| If daily, how much | |||||
| Little (≤10 /day) | 91 (88.3) | 38 (90.5) | 49 (81.7) | 178 (86.8) | 0.4055 |
| Moderate (11–19/day) | 10 (9.7) | 2 (4.8) | 9 (15.0) | 21 (10.2) | |
| A lot (one pack/day) | 2 (1.9) | 2 (4.8) | 2 (3.3) | 6 (2.9) | |
| Any alcohol during pregnancy | 335 (14.8) | 63 (6.6) | 96 (5.6) | 494 (10.0) | <0.0001* |
| Occasionally | 325 (97.0) | 61 (96.8) | 94 (97.9) | 480 (97.2) | 0.9208 |
| Daily | 10 (3.0) | 2 (3.2) | 2 (2.1) | 14 (2.8) |
*Statistically significant
†Folic acid supplementation was considered appropriate if folic acid was taken from at least 1 month before, and throughout, at least the first trimester of pregnancy. It was classified as ‘inappropriate’ if folic acid was taken only once the pregnancy began, even if throughout the pregnancy, or if it was taken, but data were missing as to how and when.
BMI, body mass index; DTaP, Diphtheria, Tetanus and Pertussis Vaccine.